March 19, 2005
Ambassador-designate Karen Hughes
Department of State
Washington, DC
Dear Karen Hughes,
We listened with great attention to your acceptance speech, televised on CNN, to head the “Public Diplomacy” office of the United States State Department.
We were especially pleased to hear that “The United States has much to learn about being better global citizens.” and that “we have much to learn about becoming better citizens of the world.” We were immediately reminded of the first secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson?s words written in 1790 that “Every man possesses the right of self-government–Individuals exercise it by their single will.” Tom Paine, whose political philosophy was summated by “my country is the world, all men are my brothers and my religion is to do good,” would have been rightfully proud of your statements.
The geopolitical corollary of world citizenship is, of course, world government the lack of which assigns “citizenship” to mere verbiage or at worst, obfuscation. Nonetheless, we, who have already claimed our right to world citizenship and therefore world government, are encouraged by your statement that, in your new appointment, you will “look forward to working with my fellow citizens to share our country’s good heart and our idealism and our values with the world.”
As Secretary Rice prefaced in her introduction to your candidacy, “Karen Hughes is uniquely qualified for nurturing America’s dialogue with the world and advancing universal values.” Responding to the Secretary?s compliment, you confirmed that “Too few know of the values we place on international institutions and the rule of law.” That core value, the rule of law of, by and for the people, implied by the unenumerated rights “retained by the people” of the 9th Amendment, is, of course, the sine qua non of a peaceful world.
Moreover, should you be confirmed, as all government officials, you will, of course, be obliged to take the formal oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution derived originally from the sovereign people as noted in the opening three words. While swearing to defend it “against all enemies foreign and domestic” so help you God, you will, however, not be constrained nor prohibited by it to add world citizenship as a complement to your lesser citizenships from the municipal to the national.
That which is not prohibited by law is of course tacitly condoned. Indeed the very constitutional principle implies its extension to the anarchic global level in order that the rule of law protects freedom for one and all. As the Founders wisely and uniformly agreed, the 10th amendment itself sanctions and enshrines the principle of dual or concentric citizenship thereby eliminating the anarchic condition between the several states yet preserving each citizen’s state allegiance within the fledgling American community.
We add that freedom, without the sanction and framework of law as the Founders constitutionally provided, is the breeding ground of fear, division, distrust and eventually, war. United States’ history, unfortunately, is a testament to that perennial truth.
In our modern times when global problems abound, when communication is quasi instantaneous, and war itself, since 1914, has gone global with nuclear instruments threatening humanity itself, the 1948 human rights declaration of the United Nations provides in article 15(2) the sovereign right of the individual to exercise his or her political choice while article 21(3) confirms unequivocally that “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.”
Your proposed noble mission then, Ambassador-designate Karen Hughes, as you yourself aver and as we World Citizens interpret it, is to “advance not only the cause of greater peace and security but also the cause of greater opportunity and a better life for all the world’s people.”
Know that, as fellow citizens of the world, you have our full support and appreciation in the firm conviction that humanity itself will be beneficially served by your forthcoming vital human trust.
Please accept, Ms. Hughes, the expression of our most respectful and highest regards.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed)
Garry Davis
World Coordinator
Cc: George W. Bush, President, United States
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
Members of Congress
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
Heads of State
Coordinators, Commssions of World Government
Enclosures